1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling a photographic image according to the rotation of a camera in a mobile communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a mobile communication terminal according to the related art, in which a camera is installed on a hinge.
As shown therein, a related art terminal to which a camera is mounted includes: a main body 10, a first and second folding parts 10 and 11, respectively, a hinge portion 21 that rotatably connects the first and second folding parts 10 and 11, and a camera 35 installed in the hinge portion 21. On the inner surface of the first folding part 10, a plurality of terminal manipulation devices 13, shown here as buttons of a keypad, is installed. On the inner surface of the second folding part, a display screen 23 for displaying images and information is installed.
The hinge portion 21 includes first and second hinge parts 17 and 27, respectively, for coupling the first and second folding parts 10 and 11. The camera 35 is disposed adjacent to the first hinge part 17 along the outer edges of the terminal for ease of manual rotation of the camera. The camera 35 includes a module 36 for photographing a subject and a collar 38 for rotating the camera 35 so as to be able to photograph the subject.
When a still or dynamic image is photographed by the camera 35, a user holds and rotates the collar 38 in order to direct the camera module 36 onto the subject. The user then properly manipulates a one or more the terminal manipulation devices 13 to photograph the subject and reproduce the image on the display screen 23.
The terminal according to the related art generally has an internal default setting such that subjects photographed with the integrated camera appear properly oriented (i.e., right-side up) when the subjects are situated opposite to the display screen 23 (i.e., facing the back of the first folding part 11). However, when the camera is rotated such that the camera 35 is generally directed in the same direction as the display screen 23, the reproduced image created by the camera is inversely reproduced on the display screen 23 with respect to orientation. In other words, the image is inverted so that it appears upside-down. Alternatively, the image may appear upside-down if the camera is oriented in the opposite direction. Consequently, a correcting apparatus is required to allow for proper image reproduction.
As so far described, in the related art, when an image of a subject photographed by a camera mounted to a terminal is inversely displayed on a display unit according to a position of the camera, the user must either rotate the terminal or manipulate specific buttons to correct the orientation of the image. Therefore, an improved solution is needed to correctly display an inverted image reproduced by a rotating camera of a mobile communication terminal.